Miyuki stopped at the door, a combination of Percy stalling, Jakku being left behind, and the actual door being shut in front of them causing her to suddenly slow down. She panted a bit, having been exerting herself quite a lot despite her good fitness. Regaining herself, she broke the frozen bond between hers and Percy's hands, looking back to wherever Jakku was.
"You've been missing for ages! We've all missed you. I've missed you especially. I know you want to fix your illness, but, you keep getting into worse and worse trouble, getting hurt, captured, used, abused, trapped, thrown away. We just want you back. and I'd rather it be sooner than later." The tall, slender Kagami woman gave a worried glance at the young man before her, before looking away to see where Jakku was.

"Jakku-Chan, we're over here! Stay put, I'll come get you!' she promised aloud, before looking back at Percy. "You get the door open, I'll get Jakku, okay?"

The Welshman opened his mouth to speak, before that worried glance from the Osakan cut him off. Instead of spitting a reply back at her, he merely stood and watched her fly off to find the fire spirit, disarmed in the moment. Dejected of himself, he stared at the tear in his shoulder which ran all the way down to his stomach. Light pulsed from the mana seethed wound, and it seemed to give Percival the gumption to move to the door.

Crank! The door's latch let out a low thrum as the handle turned, and a chilly wind blew through the doorway, leading back to the mysterious cavern he had taken refuge in. Leaving the passage open for his friend to come through, Percy went in to the chamber.

"Ms. Kagami! Ms. Kagami! I'm over here!" In the arching trees, and shifting landscape, Jakku whipped around in a panic. She had spun herself up, burning white-hot, causing the trees to lean away from her to avoid her errant, emotional fire. Upon seeing the Ice Mage crest the ridge, the white-hot energy burst off of her. Seeing Miyuki, the sprite quickly charged her, burying herself in Kagami's bosom. "Ms. Kagami! I knew you'd come back!"

Miyuki extended a hand to the little spirit. "Of course I did! I would never leave someone behind like that. Now hurry, we have to get back!" She grabbed the sprite, tucking her in the front of her jacket, and rushing back to the portal back to their world.
"Percy! Wait up! We're coming too!" She called after the young man as she made her way through the door, closing it solidly behind her.

The shutting sound of the door echoed in the cavernous study. Percy was over in one end of the private area, his back to her, working with something at a table. Oddly, in the dimly-lit gloom, the glow pitched in his stomach shined very little now, barely competing with the candles and sconces of magefire. That light caught on something in his hand, something brass, and polished, set over a bunsen burner, a tea kettle. In the time it took Miyuki, he had already set out a couple of tea-cups and a cap to something.

"I suppose you have questions," said Caxton, putting his weight on his table, choosing not to look at Miyuki as he seemed to search for something. "After all of that."

Miyuki approached the table, somewhat cautious. After all the adrenaline from being in the other world, and all that they had done, the adrenaline was wearing off, leaving her looking a little bit haggard. When she finally arrived, she looked at the teacups, and then back at Percy. "I mean, tangling with a goddess is nothing new," she began, somewhat awkwardly as she reached for the cup, smelling the tea before taking a sip. She made a face, and waved her free hand at her mouth, opening it and sticking her toungue out while making a small pained noise before composing herself. "Hot..." she muttered, putting the tea down to let it cool before she took another sip, and sucking on a frozen fingertip to try and cool down the oral appendage before she would continue.

"But what about the last three years? Why did you just vanish without a trace? Three years! Some of the others had given up the search already..." her voice suddenly lacked its normal confidence, and tears were starting to well up in the corners of her eyes. "Why didn't you say anything? You know we're always here to help you..."

Leaning over the table, his knuckles flat on the bench, Percival closed his eyes. He had nothing to say, at least not in the immediate, his face was a shifting puzzle of a emotions. In the silence, Jakku landed on the table's edge, and picked up the cap, her eyes gone wide at the contents. She looked up at Percival, and then back down at her cup, her normal glow concentrated in her chest.

He pursed his lips together, and tried compose himself, taking up his tea, "You all have always taken care of me, I've always needed it, but I've never been honest about my condition. Mages and their secrets... You know..." The cup went up to his mouth, and it loosened his lips a bit more, he tapped the tea cup against his arm. "The tear has been there... since I lost my arm, but it wasn't noticeable until three years after. I studied in private to see if I could fix it myself, and... I couldn't find anything."

With one quick go, he downed the rest of the hot tea, and set the cup down next to Jakku, "When I couldn't hide it anymore I left. I was losing hope in finding a solution, so I came here to finish out my studies. I didn't want you to... to know about this... I knew you would come to help. I knew you'd be there for me, but..."

"I..." the man started, but the words came short as he blinked away a few tears. His breath was shallow, but he eventually got the words out, looking at the Ice Mage squarely, "I didn't want you to watch me die."

Miyuki wiped the tears from her eyes with the ends of her sleeves, Sniffling a bit before taking a deep breath to compose herself. It was good to hear Percy's confession, and, though he thought that he'd done a good job of keeping at all secret, nothing her said really surprised the Osakan native. As the young Caxton man got more and more down on himself, Miyuki drew closer to the alchemist/mini-god summoner. When he finished she, perhaps expectedly, but still quite suddenly, grabbed him by the ear and gave him a good tug and a wiggle before letting the hearing appendage go, none the worse for wear but probably smarting quite a bit.

"Idiot!" she announced, before wrapping her arms around him in a warm embrace. Despite being the Ice Queen, Miyuki was in fact still a young woman, and still human, her own warmth helping to protect Percy from the cold Greenlandic air that made its way in through the whistling gaps in the door to the ruins they were currently located in.

"We've been there for each other, this whole time. The seven years before you disappeared, we spent so much time, and went through so much together We grew, not just you and me, but all of us, older, wiser, more mature, and more capable. Even you, barely able to control your power at first, became one of the renowned mages in Japan!" She seemed to swell in pride at that, beaming at the man as she pulled back a bit from her embrace.

"And we've been looking, too, looking for a solution, or at least just something to ease the burden on you. But we need you to stop shutting us out. You've always had our backs, now let us have yours, got it?"

His ear stung, and as she wrapped him up, his heart began to sting as well. It had been so long since the last time he had felt someone's embrace, but even more since he had felt her warmth. Even being reprimanded, nothing stunted the memory of the last time they had embraced, the last time he felt that cool exterior, with a burning soul beating underneath. With only an arm, he held her tight, fearing to lose that memory to the cold again.

The weariness in her eyes was evident, Percy was no stranger to weariness, but he knew what it was from. She had never given up on him, thrown aside everything to find him, and jumped into the heavens to save him. A realization crossed his mind as she reminded the man of his worth, to all of them, and to her. Percival had always sought to solve his own problems, for sometimes being the cause of them. The rest of them always acted so foolish, or occupied with their own lives, he could never think of burdening them. Yet, now, he could see that was his own foolishness, no better than the rest.

"Oh Miyuki, I've been so stupid," the man's green-eyes clenched shut, and he drooped his head. Again he pursed his lips, before looking up at her again, smiling. A genuine smile.

Their faces were close now, just to noses, their eyes alight in a growing orange glow. And then...

That orange glow stole his attention, and he looked over at Jakku, staring at the both of them. Her aura was becoming intense, and her tea was quickly evaporating in her little cup. She looked star-struck, as if watching a scene from a movie, but began to fidget when she caught their attention.

She gasped, as the moment she hadn't even noticed entering was suddenly startled out of existence by the glow of Jakku, the fire sprite. She pulled back a little farther and looked at the sprite, trying to swiftly figure out a way to diffuse the sudden awkwardness that had been caused. All Miyuki could think of, however, was to change the subject.

"Ah! We need to take you back to your master, don't we, Jakku-Chan?" she asked the little spirit, holding out a hand for her to be carried on, and to make her feel like she wasn't left out. "Shall we, Percival?" she asked her partner, now that they had been reunited.

Jakku looked a bit shocked, and then stared down into her cup. She cradled the little cap, likely to a can of spray. Words failed her for the passing silence, and she gave cautious glances to both Miyuki and Percival. The mention of returning to Itta made the sprite's glow fade and hold in the plastic container a little tighter. Instead of flying on the Osakan's hand, she grabbed one of the cool fingers with a tiny, warm grip. With a tug, she earned the attention of both the mages, holding them there a moment longer.

"Ms. Kagami..." sheepishly, the burning sprite's glow came back to her, as she tugged the finger in close with her cup.

"Can I stay with you?"

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Praise the SunA short story, telling the story of a meddling mage, and the storm that encircled that mage.

Kagami Miyuki returned to Osaka with Percival Caxton in tow. In the following months, the two assisted the Kyoto Branch of the Occultus Magicus in the follow-up proceedings in the Ise Case, and then assisted in helping to reestablish security at the temple. Being on relatively good terms with heaven, Miyuki and Percy were trusted to be on the shrine grounds, and did an immense amount of work in developing the future safety grid of Ise Shrine. This helped establish a name for not just themselves, but the Osakan Branch of the Occultus Magicus as well. The indomitable Ice Mage, and at her side, the unassuming, one-armed Scholar from the budding club of magisters in Southern Japan.

The name 'Safeholme' was on the lips of many mages for months to come.

Yasuo Kurosawa went on to take his father's place as representative of the Occultus at Ise Shrine, but in much less the capacity of a priest, and more as an observer. There were questions of Yasuo's ability to take on such a position with the reputation he garnered from his father's actions, but his diligence earned him the respect of not just the priests, but the deity who presided the shrine. Despite everything, he kept in contact with Kagami, and fostered further relations between Kyoto and Osaka. As a result, Safeholme saw an influx of students coming from Kyoto.

Yasuo Genji was never seen after the trio left Amaterasu's court. Upon further investigation into the man's private sanctum, documents were revealed showing his plans dating back to nearly a decade. His intentions remained private to the public ear, but that didn't stop rumors from pervading the mage world with stories of a man who tried to shackle a god. The only remnant, and closure from his existence came from a representative of heaven's bureaucracy, who explained the situation to the Inquisitors that arrived following the night Miyuki and Percival returned.

Amaterasu closed ties with the middle realm following the Ise Incident, and the shrine was bereft her presence, save for that of her representative. It would take a year for her aura to return to her holy site, much to the relief of her priests, never mind how different it felt. In the month's that followed, the participants in the case saw reward from the deity. Kagami Miyuki earned a necklace fitted with a forged plate of the mirror which she destroyed, and was told it would reveal the truth of anything in its reflection, along with Amaterasu's eternal gratitude. Percival on the other hand, earned something unique to his abilities.

Greenland's Mage Guild investigated the place Percival was found, and found the undead construct waiting for them. Yet, instead of a fight, it offered a seat, and began to tell stories of Mage's long past. Most of its stories were of battles it fought against and for casters of magic, but its insights were some of the most concrete recollections of Greenland's magical history. The transcription of these stories took months, and many repeat trips and investigating into the place Percival called home for a while. The construct's last story was of a duel between he and an Ice Mage, who bested him brilliantly in combat, and freed him of his curse. When he finished, he was said to have closed his eyes, and faded away.

Jakku was reticent to return home to her former mage, and the Mage Guild in Greenland, so... she didn't. Instead, the little fire sprite followed Miyuki and Percy home to Osaka, where she took up residence with the famed Ice Mage, and serves her faithfully to this day. Itta Okalit, Jakku's previous retainer expressed great discontent at the loss of her fire spirit, and stated she would not take the theft sitting down, going so far as to say she'd go to Osaka herself.